McConnell: Roy Moore Should Step Down After Sex Misconduct Report

WASHINGTON, DC — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday morning that Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore should step aside in the state's special election after recent reports that he dated multiple teenagers and sexually molested a 14-year-old when he was in his 30s.

"I believe the women," the Republican leader of the Senate told reporters when asked about the allegations at a press conference Monday.

He added that Moore "should step aside." The election is scheduled for Dec. 12, and it is too late for Moore's name to be officially removed from the ballot. McConnell said Republicans will look for a replacement to run as a "write-in" candidate.

"The person who should step aside is @SenateMajLdr Mitch McConnell," Moore tweeted Monday afternoon. "He has failed conservatives and must be replaced."

In a fundraising email sent out by the Moore campaign after McConnell's comments, Moore called the accusations "Mitch McConnell's plot to destroy me," said BuzzFeed News reporter Henry Gomez.

Polls released after the Post's report varied widely. While Moore retains a margin of at least 10 points over his Democratic opponent Doug Jones in some polls, others show Jones inching ahead by as much as four points.

Earlier in the morning, attorney Gloria Allred announced that she would hold a press conference with a new woman who says Moore engaged in sexual contact with her when she was a minor.

Last Thursday, The Washington Post published a story in which a woman said that Moore pursued her and touched her sexually when she was 14 and he was 32. The Post also found three other women who say they had relationships with Moore while he was in his 30s and they were between the ages of 16 and 18. Though these three women said the relationships were consensual and didn't move beyond kissing, they later thought Moore's interest in them was inappropriate.

But the reporting in The Post goes far beyond mere "he said, she said" and counter-accusations. The deeply reported piece also cites three other women who say Moore made advances toward them as teenagers, and it corroborates some of the facts of the 14-year-old's story.

President Trump believes that the Republican candidate for an Alabama seat in the U.S. Senate will "do the right thing and step aside" if recent allegations of sexual misconduct against him are true, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Friday.

Initially, McConnell, along with most other Republican lawmakers, would only say that Moore should step aside "if they allegations were true."

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona was one of the few lawmakers to give a decisive statement about Moore straight away.

"The allegations against Roy Moore are deeply disturbing and disqualifying," he said. "He should immediately step aside and allow the people of Alabama to elect a candidate they can be proud of."

Monday afternoon, Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins tweeted, "I have now read Mr. Moore’s statement and listened to his radio interview in which he denies the charges. I did not find his denials to be convincing and believe that he should withdraw from the Senate race in Alabama."

Moore has strenuously denied the Post's report. When asked about whether he dates teenagers as an adult, he told Sean Hannity on Friday "Not generally, no."

'I don't remember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother," he added.

Moore and his campaign, along with some conservative websites, have tried to discredit his accusers. He has also said he intends to sue the Post for publishing the story.

Moore entered the special election to take over Attorney General Jeff Sessions's Senate seat, winning the primary against Republican Sen. Luther Strange, who was appointed to take the seat in the interim. McConnell, along with Trump, endorsed Strange over Moore, who was twice removed from his position as a judge for disobeying court orders.

McConnell On Moore: 'I Believe The Women'

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